Getting to Sherwood / Elgin /Bastrop.

[DonaCatalina]

IMO I35 south is the quickest route for most of the way.
If you wish to avoid the horrible Austin traffic, exit at Georgetown and take Texas 29 east. You will go past Jonah and hit Texas 95. Take this south through Taylor, Elgin and on to Bastrop. For most of its route Texas 95 is a 2 lane road with a good surface and wide shoulders. -correction: The rail line that follows Texas 95 was originally built by the Missouri, Kansas & Texas.-

[RenStarr]

DC,
As someone who lives in the area I would make one adjustment to your directions.  Instead of turning on 29 east out of Georgetown, I would stay on 35 for another 12 miles (approx) and head east on Hwy 79 out of Round Rock.  You will come in on the South side of Taylor at the loop.  Get on the loop and head south & east (maybe 5 minutes) and get off to get on Hwy 95 south to Elgin.  Hwy 79 is a better road then 29 and you will avoid having to drive thru Taylor while going south on 95 (lots of stop lights).

Also, for those that like to use the toll road system (Tx Tags), you can get on 130 South just north of Georgetown.  Once on 130 you can get off on 79 and head east (see above) or stay on 130 and get off on 290 and head east to Elgin.

These recomendations are for folks coming into the Central Texas area that are heading South on IH 35.

[Merlin the Elder]

Any particular recommendations if coming from Arkansas (using Texarkana as a starting point)?

[Don_Juan_deCordoba]

I would say that I30 to Dallas and then I35 would be the easiest.
I635 on the east side will take you around to I35 south and keep you out of the downtown mixmaster.
I35 south to either Round Rock or Georgetown is the quickest and easiest.

Also, if you have a toll tag, or are not driving a rental car, you can exit before Georgetown and take the 130 toll road east out of Austin and miss the Austin traffic. From there Texas 71 will take you straight into Bastrop.

[Merlin the Elder]

I was leaning that way for ease of travel, as you say, Don Juan. 

I saw a couple other routes on Google Maps that were just slightly more time, but shorter travel, but have no experience on the route as to quality of roads. Just wondering if they would be worth the diversion, or had any interesting scenery. I figuring pretty close to 9 hours travel time in any case.

[DonaCatalina]

Most of the roads you are probably seeing are going to be like Texas 95, 2 lanes with solid shoulders.
Most of the delays will be the red lights and stop signs in each and every little town on the way down.
My other hobby is following rail lines and photographing old railroad buildings so we travel off the interstate a lot. The roads themselves are in good shape, but the stops make the trips about a 1/3 longer in time.

[Merlin the Elder]

If we wanted to see some new scenery, Google shows one alternate route that's only 3 minutes longer, and 43 miles shorter. It's US 59 out of Texarkana to Linden, then TX155 thru Tyler, etc. Do you know those roads at all? (I know 59) If so, is it a reasonably nice drive?  Making a couple trips to Scarby this year and am trying not to burn out on the I-30/I-35 route, if you know what I mean.

[Lady Kett]

Merlin, we've taken a few road trips in the past 12 months and I can tell you that the GPS or Google Maps are usually spot-on with regard to "travel time". If you enjoy the scenic route, I would trust either source. There are times however, when driving on an interstate so that you have easy, regular access to traveling amenities is a better option. I've never been disappointed in a scenic, off-interstate drive either in scenery, mileage or time of travel. But if we are driving late in the evening and plan to stop somewhere overnight, I will stay on the interstate.

Which is a really long way of saying - if you are doing your drive in one day and not stopping for the night - do not be afraid of non-interstate travel. It's an adventure after all, right? There are gas stations in small towns just as there are in major cities. And gas stations and occasional munchies are the important part of a road trip. Besides the privy stops!

[DonaCatalina]

I uunderstand totally Merlin. US 59 is a good road. In some spots it is 4 lanes wide. US 59 Follows the T&P out of Texarkana. Parts of the route are extremely scenic, especially in the fall.

[Merlin the Elder]

We'll be traveling in daylight (or Interstate would be an absolute). I think we'll do the "back roads" on the way down. If we like it, we can return that way, if not we'll head up I-35.   We used to travel to Houston a lot when Nim's folks lived there. US-59 became quite familiar.  If weather isn't cooperating, we'll probably stick to the Interstate.

Thanks for all the info, folks....

[dbaldock]

There's also this.      

Then you'd only have this short drive.   


Take Care,
David Baldock

[Merlin the Elder]

After having some things stolen from me by the TSA the last time I flew, that was the last time I'll fly. I'm tired of the gestapo. By the time I finish dealing with all the bull fritters, it's faster to drive, and a LOT cheaper. When gasoline was at its highest a while back, I saved $600 by driving from Maumelle to New York and back, even with two nights in hotels.

[Queen Bonnie]

 When Lord A and I went to Scarby we went down IH35 to the HK Dodgen Loop outside of Temple- the first HK dodgen loop exit- there is a big grain elevator on the left- -  and caught rte 95. Little traffic and it takes you right into Elgin and rte 290. Going through the stop lights in Taylor is tricky but it is a nice drive!

[DonaCatalina]

Its too bad we're all traveling at different times, but we might still pass each other along the way.
Jefferson on Hwy 59, in Marion County, has several nice wineries in the area.

Anyone care to guess who Marion county was named after?

[Queen Bonnie]

 Maid Marion? LOL!